Remember back in the 70′s when gas prices shot up due to speculation on Wall Street? Of course you don’t, that was a supply disruption. Your basic supply and demand action. Oil and Gas prices are regulated to keep speculation and the whims of Wall Street and the Rich Elite from screwing up the price on gas, and thereby the economy, and the lives of people. Well, that was then. For the last 3 or 4 decades, as many of us know, Wall Street and the Rich Elite have been stacking the deck in their favor and against everyday people.
Enter The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA), which brought us deregulation of commodity markets. Regulations that had been in place since the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, which kept the price of oil stable through govt regulation and policing. According to Business Week, “Besides opening the door for unregulated, off-exchange trading, the CFMA excluded what are known as “swaps” from regulation.” And let’s note, this was brought to us by a democratic President, Bill Clinton, which underscores how we can no longer rely on mere labels, as the DLC and many democrats are not on the side of the people, but on the side of Wall Street and the plutocracy.
According to wikipedia:
Although hailed by the PWG [This is the " Presidential Working Group" which consisted of Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan, Arthur Levitt and William Rainer] on the day of congressional passage as “important legislation” to allow “the United States to maintain its competitive position in the over-the-counter derivative markets”, by 2001 the collapse of Enron brought public attention to the CFMA’s treatment of energy derivatives in the “Enron Loophole.” Following the Federal Reserve’s emergency loans to “rescue” American International Group (AIG) in September, 2008, the CFMA has received even more widespread criticism for its treatment of credit default swaps and other OTC derivatives.
So the troubles with ENRON and the default swaps that led to the looting of the US Treasury, and our current economic crisis are all tied to this legislation signed by a democratic administration. This same legislation is also the culprit behind the price of oil spiking, just as it did in 2008. The same legislation that brought down our economy is also threatening to undue the recovery, yet the media, as far as I’ve seen, has been mum. The few mainstream media reports on gas prices talk like this is just expected and the way things have always been. No one is putting all these pieces together. Afterall, there are more worker’s rights to abolish and schools to close.
But there are even more pieces to fit together. Read this article:
http://www.commondreams.org/...
Food, Egypt and Wall Street
The dramatic rise in food prices is fueling a great deal of discontent in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere. It is a deep under current propelling many of the poor, facing prospects of starvation to resort to the streets and to violence. According to the United Nation’s Food Agency (Food and Agriculture Organization — FAO) world food prices are up for the 7th month in a row and are likely to remain close to the record high reached in December 2010…
…At issue are the still deregulated commodity markets ushered in by the Clinton Administration and the U.S. Congress with the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Before this law, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) served as a cop on the beat, enforcing rules that prevent distortion of manipulation of prices beyond normal supply and demand. But Wall Street Banks and companies such as ENRON, and British Petroleum were determined to make a lot more money from speculation by exempting energy-derivative contracts and related swaps from government oversight. And so, the 2000 law allows entities that have no stake in whether adequate amounts of food and fuel are available for ordinary people and commodity-dependent businesses, to make huge sums of money by gambling with other people’s money.
Soon after passage of the 2000 law “dark” unregulated futures trading markets emerged, most notably the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London — created by Wall Street and European investment banks and several oil companies…
…Some world leaders are willing to speak out against the pernicious role of “dark” commodity markets. Recently, French President Sarkozy warned of further unrest and even war at the Davos forum, unless commodity speculation is reined in — something that is being fought bitterly by Wall Street and Congressional Republicans. The Dodd/Frank Financial Reform Law places some restrictions on this practice by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In particular, the CFTC is beginning the process of weeding out “non bona fide” investment bank speculators. True to form, House Republicans are demanding that the CFTC slam on the brakes and are planning hearings and legislation to hamstring these efforts.
Where is the reporting on this? Where is the President, Congress, and your representatives? We've seen tax cuts for the wealthy, Bank of America paying no taxes, and yet we are suppose to sacrifice, lose unions, our schools are closing, etc.
It is time for the Wisconsin revolution to grow, so we can take back our country and economy!